Elly Ney

Elly Ney, born in Düsseldorf on September 27, 1882, had lessons with Isidor Seiss in Cologne before enrolling in Leschetizky's class in Vienna. She also worked briefly with Liszt's pupil Emil Sauer. Her increasing fame brought her to the United States during the 1920s, when she made her first recordings for Brunswick. Ney elected to remain in her native country during the Hitler regime and became a frequent soloist with German orchestras, favoring the concertos of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. She was an avid chamber-music performer as well, notably with cellist Ludwig Hoelscher. Following the war her concert activity diminished somewhat, but she continued to record the mainstays of her repertoire during her late years. She died in the Bavarian town of Tutzing on March 31, 1968.